Date: 09/22/2015
Final
Youth Panel: COYAC and Colie's Closet
SCHOOL SAFETY AND YOUTH IN CRISIS
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09:53 AM -- Youth Panel: COYAC and Colie's Closet
The committee recessed.
10:00 AM
The committee came back to order. Senator Scheffel welcomed the members of the panel and asked them to introduce themselves. Kathy Valentine, Executive Director of Colie's Closet, spoke about the organization, which is a youth-run peer education organization in Boulder Valley School District. She spoke about how the students are trained to speak to their peers about depression and suicide awareness. She introduced Evan Thornberry, and said that Colie's Closet has been in existence for 10 years and that last year, members of the group spoke to 2,600 students in 100 classrooms. Mr. Thornberry introduced himself and spoke about Colie's Closet and his experiences as a peer educator.
The members of the Colorado Youth Advisory Council (COYAC) distributed a handout to committee members (Attachment B). Cole Hancock spoke about COYAC and discussed the policy recommendations his group has made on the issues of behavioral health and school safety. Ryan Schiller spoke about his experiences on COYAC. Rahul Ramesh introduced himself and Sofia Barnett introduced herself.
Attachment B can be viewed at Legislative Council.
Mr. Ramesh spoke about the mental health needs of students in high school. He spoke about programs in place currently, such as anonymous tip lines, and how ineffective his school's care line is. He said that Cherry Creek High School had five suicides last year and discussed the benefits of mental health screenings.
Senator Newell asked about the Cherry Creek care line's relationship to Safe2Tell. Mr. Ramesh responded that Safe2Tell has given way to the local care line at his school. Linda Weinerman asked about what happens when a tip is made to the care line. Mr. Ramesh spoke about his friend's suicide and how his tip to the care line resulted in a contact with his friend, but that his friend committed suicide over the summer despite the intervention provided. Mr. Thornberry spoke about the nature of suicides at high schools and how his organization wants to start a conversation. He said that many teenagers do not open up because they find it scary to talk about these issues and speaking about depression is often frowned upon. He told the committee that his group makes presentations to groups in middle schools because many children at that age have feelings of depression.
Ms. Barnett spoke about teams at schools formed to focus on issues of mental health. She told the committee the focus should be more on training teachers and those that have direct contact with students. Mr. Thornberry told the committee that his group urges students to speak to trusted adults when they have feelings of depression or thoughts of suicide. Mr. Ramesh said that what's in place now are safety-net measures, but that when students have convinced themselves that things will not be okay, these measures do not work. He spoke about Mental Health First Aid and Emotional CPR as possible solutions for training people to help students after the care line call. Mr. Schiller discussed his friends that suffer from depression and said that students do not trust adults, but rather trust their friends. He spoke about the need to educate students themselves on how to respond when their friends disclose feelings of depression or thoughts of suicide. He spoke about the benefits of instituting a standard confidentiality agreement between students and counselors. He said that students need to be comfortable talking about these issues so they can help one another.
Senator Scheffel asked about the causes of teen depression and suicide. Mr. Hancock responded that stress results from both social life and academic pressure. He talked about lack of sleep and the perceived need to take advanced classes as combining factors. Mr. Schiller spoke about the importance placed on social status, as well as chemical imbalances in the teenage brain. Mr. Ramesh agreed with the previous two speakers, and added that family problems can add to the pressures on a teenager. Ms. Barnett spoke about the effects of bullying. Mr. Thornberry discussed cyberbullying, and how bullying can now follow students home. He spoke about traumatic events, such as floods or other natural disasters, or divorce, also genetics, the death of a loved-one, and stress resulting from tests and sleep deprivation.
Representative Willett asked about the COYAC recommendations on school safety and about school safety drills. Mr. Hancock spoke about the drills at his high school since students from Arapahoe High School transferred there. Ms. Barnett spoke about lockdown drills seen as a joke among students, as time to spend playing on cell phones, and discussed how teachers should approach these drills. Mr. Thornberry spoke about a bomb threat at his high school in 2012. He noted the lack of school policies and how no information was circulated to students. He explained the chaos of the situation, discussed drills at the school in the intervening years, and explained the difficulties of executing drills that require all students to leave the campus. He advocated for the creation of regulations surrounding these drills and urged adults not to withhold information from students, because in the absence of true information, students will circulate rumors. Mr. Schiller spoke about a situation his freshman year where a student set himself on fire in the cafeteria, and the resulting chaos. Ms. Barnett spoke about a suicide at her school, commenting on how quickly rumors can spread, and how prohibitions on what teachers can say encourage the spreading of false rumors.
Greg McDonald asked about the academic pressures on students. Mr. Ramesh responded that students stay up late to complete homework, and are required to wake up very early to get to school on time. He discussed the effect of lack of sleep on teenagers and advocated for later start times at high schools. Mr. Schiller said that academic pressures come primarily from parents, but also from peers. Mr. Ramesh and Ms. Barnett spoke about the workload on students and the burden that Advanced Placement (AP) classes can place on students.
Ms. Weinerman asked about school resource officers (SROs), particularly whether kids are comfortable reaching out to SROs. Mr. Thornberry responded that school counselors are more often responsible for helping kids with their schedules and college applications. He spoke about the position of a school interventionist, who has a confidentiality policy not to speak to parents unless a child is in danger. He said that friends can go with each other to get help from the interventionist, and he spoke about his experience taking a friend to see the school interventionist. He spoke about the SRO in his school.
Representative Salazar asked about relations within schools. Ms. Barnett spoke about the school interventionist, who rotates among a team of teachers. She said that students usually go to the interventionist for their friends and that a student with a problem rarely, if ever, approaches the interventionist. Representative Salazar asked if students get annual training on Safe2Tell. Ms. Barnett stated that the telephone number is on the back of their student IDs, but there is no specific training. Mr. Ramesh agreed that the telephone number is on the back of the student ID. He spoke about school assemblies for Suicide Prevention Awareness Day. He spoke about the effectiveness of guest speakers. Mr. Schiller also agreed that the Safe2Tell telephone number appears on the back of student IDs and stressed the importance of peer-to-peer relationships and how SROs are armed and intimidating. He said that counselors' location in the main office is off-putting to students.
10:46 AM
Mr. Hancock also confirmed that the Safe2Tell telephone number appears on the back of student IDs, and said that at his school there is no specific training offered to students. He said that students often do not know where to turn with information on a peer's depression or suicidal thoughts. Kate O'Donnell spoke about her experiences as a social worker, agreed that peer-to-peer relationships are important, and asked the students which adults they would trust. Mr. Thornberry responded that he would trust the interventionist at his school, and stated that before he knew her, he would not have known who to trust. He said that it would not be parents, since parents are often the cause of a student's stress. Mr. Schiller responded that he has one teacher he would go to, but that there is no single way to treat all cases. Mr. Ramesh stated that at different schools, the first line of defense is different. He spoke about his relationship with his debate coach.
Mr. McDonald thanked the panelists and spoke about his experiences as a school counselor. He expressed sadness at their perceptions of the role of school counselors. He stated that the front line is often peers, but asked how peers and adults can work together on these issues. Mr. Hancock spoke about the importance of creating connections among students and adults in schools, and maintaining confidentiality when students do approach adults. Mr. Schiller said that counselors should leave their offices and walk around the school to get to know students better, and that counselors should be more friendly to students. Mr. Ramesh urged students to approach adults, but pointed out that students have difficulty approaching unfamiliar adults and urged adults in schools to approach students. He also suggested that schools conduct more assemblies. Ms. Barnett spoke about school traditions, such as booing freshmen, that foster negative feelings among students. Mr. Thornberry said that student councils can be an effective tool, but that it becomes problematic when the student council is not representative of the larger student body. He said that his school is 20 percent Latino and that many students struggle economically, and those students have different stresses. He spoke about how the student council does not represent the entire school, and he mentioned racial segregation in classrooms. He explained that his school is not unified, and that socioeconomic and racial differences divide students. He said each school should get all types of students involved in governance.
Senator Newell expressed sadness at the fact that students no longer go to school counselors as trusted adults. She said that counselors should have better connections with students. She asked Mr. Thornberry about the possibility of replicating Colie's Closet in other locations. Mr. Thornberry spoke about how his group had imagined expanding to other schools and districts. Ms. Valentine spoke about her efforts with the group and how other districts could replicate Boulder Valley School District's efforts. Senator Newell asked about empathy on a student level, to groups other than overachievers. Mr. Hancock spoke about how tracked classes lead to homogeneous groups of friends. He said that electives can give students an opportunity to make friends in different demographic groups. Mr. Schiller said that it is easier to form relationships with classmates or teammates, but that schools can do better at helping students to build relationships. Mr. Ramesh spoke about fine arts electives and how friendships can be built from participation in clubs. Senator Newell invited the COYAC representatives to serve on the Suicide Prevention Commission.